


It's a Cold Cold Timeline

by SereneSorrow



Series: Daily Challenges! [1]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (Comics), The Flash (TV 2014), The Flash - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Timelines, F/M, M/M, The Flash Season 3 Episode 22 Infantino Street, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-19
Updated: 2017-06-18
Packaged: 2018-11-02 15:26:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10947330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SereneSorrow/pseuds/SereneSorrow
Summary: The Flash is devastated after Iris's death and follows Captain Cold back to the Waverider to hide from everyone he has disappointed. Stuff Happens. (Non Explicit Stuff Happens.)Based on The Flash Season 3 Episode 22 Infantino Street





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> As always, let me know if I need to add any tags!  
> So the only difference here from the episode is that Flash didn't take Captain Cold back to 1892 before the confrontation with Savitar, he was planning to do that after they won because they had to get right on with fighting Savitar as soon as they got the power source so Cold was just supposed to wait for the fight to be over first.  
> Also, I don't know when the Legends are supposed to have been in 1892, but apparently it has to be after Episode 9, and I think I skipped over most of Legends season 1 episode 16, kind of blended the end of 15 and the end of 16 into the same moment...  
> This was actually written in one day, 5/17/17, but I didn't finish it till late and I've had a couple busy days so I didn't have time to post it till now. So I looked it up and saw that I wasn't the only one with this sort of idea from this episode but I haven't read anyone else's yet... hope I had at least one original idea no one else thought of but I guess we'll see when I get around to reading some of those...

     He couldn't feel it anymore. From the way his future self had spoken he'd thought that he'd be in unbearable, endless pain, but after they'd taken Iris's body from his arms he'd just gone numb. He'd been on autopilot ever since, apologizing to Joe and Wally, listening to his friends tell him they were sorry, trying to convince him that he'd done everything that he could have. He'd finally just shoved past them and grabbed Snart. The only one who wasn't a reminder of his failure. Snart didn't bother with platitudes to make him feel better, and he wasn't a reminder of everyone he'd failed. Iris didn't mean anything to Snart, they were just two people who'd happened to be in the same room a couple of times, Captain Cold wouldn't be a source of further pain for him like everyone he cared about here was.  
     They arrived back in 1892 seconds later and Snart stumbled, leaning against a tree to fight off the nausea. “A little warning next time Flash.” He finally said.  
     “Sorry.” Was all Barry said.  
     Snart straitened from the tree and stepped back towards him. “Sorry things didn't work out for you, guess it'll be a while before we meet again.”  
     “I'm not going back.” Barry said it before he'd consciously made the decision, but as soon as the words left his mouth he realized that it was true, he wasn't ready to go back yet. Back to a world without Iris, where everyone he cared about was devastated and barely holding themselves together, trying to put on a brave face to make him feel better about his failures. It would be too much, too exhausting, he couldn't handle any of it right now.  
     “Well that sounds like a bad idea.” Snart drawled with a skeptical glance at him.  
     “I've already seen the future where Iris died. I abandoned the people who needed me. I wallowed in guilt and pushed everyone away. The entire team was broken, because of me. I'm not going back until I know I won't hurt them.” Barry said, cementing his decision the more he thought about the path he'd already seen ahead of him. Years of fighting Savitar, giving up over and over again, finally imprisoning Savitar but never really winning. He wasn't ready for it.  
     “So they're just going to have to face Savitar by themselves? You're leaving them to face your own enemy without you?” Snart asked, sounding disappointed in him.  
     “Savitar knows everything I know, if he wants to make trouble he'll follow me here. I'm the one that imprisoned him in the future, if he comes after anyone it will be me.” Barry was sure of that, he just wasn't so sure about Killer Frost.  
     “Well thanks for that in advance then. Something to look forward to, assuming you mean that you're joining the Legends, not just hiding out here in 1892.” Snart turned and headed in the direction of the Waverider, walking slowly to allow Barry some time to decide just what he was doing.  
     It didn't take him long, suddenly Barry was beside him again. “Don't tell them I'm here. Captain Hunter won't like it.” Barry said before dashing ahead and disappearing into the ship.  
     Snart blinked at that. _How did Barry know how Rip would take his presence on the ship, and how exactly was he going to hide from the Captain anyway?_ Snart shook his head and boarded the ship.  
***  
     “What are you doing in here?” Snart drawled without turning around.  
     Barry looked up from the deck where he'd been sitting, leaning against Snart's bed. “Nothing. Thinking.”  
     “Still hiding from everyone?” Snart asked as he hung up his coat and put the cold gun away in a case on the small table in the corner of the room.  
     “Yeah.” Barry nodded and looked down at the floor again.  
     Snart walked over and sat on the edge of the bed next to him. “Look kid, I understand you're grieving and all that, but do you really think you can keep anyone from noticing you're on the ship?”  
     “Well apparently sometime in the future I'm going to invent Gideon, so I have some creator privileges, if I ask Gideon not to tell Rip that I'm here he won't be told.”  
     “Really? That's strange.”  
     “Why?”  
     “Gideon runs a Time Ship. The Time Masters probably used the best tech they could get to avoid being outgunned by Time Bandits with tech from even farther in the future, so why is an A.I. that was invented somewhere between 50 and 100 years ago, their time, still the most cutting edge technology? Usually there are new advancements every couple of years, 50 years is certainly long enough for a new A.I. to show up.”  
     “Well, I don't know _when_ I invent Gideon exactly...”  
     “So maybe you just ran to the future and copied down someone else's coding, invented it first?”  
     Barry was going to object, but then he realized that he'd already done something similar, bringing Tracy Brand onto the team and helping her invent the Speed Bazooka seven years earlier than she had in the Alternate Future Timeline he'd visited. A moment later he realized something else. “The Reverse-Flash was using Gideon too. That's how we found out about Gideon in the first place, in his Time Vault. He already had Gideon before he found out what time I was from, and he's from about the same time as Rip.” Barry realized that no matter what he'd said before he would be time traveling again, for one reason or another. He would have to, since apparently half the people he wound up fighting came from different times themselves. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up at Snart. He'd almost forgotten he wasn't alone in the room.  
     “Just because you can hide out here indefinitely doesn't mean you should. Figure out what you need to sort out and get back on your feet Flash.”  
     “I'm trying.” Barry looked away from him again, confused at being given a pep talk by Captain Cold of all people. Comforted by him too, Barry had always known there was good in Leonard but he had always felt like he was banging his head against the wall when he tried to convince Leonard himself of that, but it looked like maybe Leonard was finally realizing for himself that he could be good.  
***  
     “Calm down? Calm down! You almost died! I had to watch all of your children selves and it took you so long to stop the Pilgrim that you almost couldn't be re-inserted into the timeline!”  
     “Stop thinking about what could have happened. It didn't, everything worked out.” Leonard drawled, sticking a foot out and tripping Barry as he paced around their room, so distracted that he wasn't watching his feet.  
     Barry stumbled and collapsed on the bed next to him. “Do you have any idea how big a part of so many people's lives you are? I know about changing the timeline, these Time Aberrations you've been dealing with are the tip of the iceberg, you have no idea what you could have done by erasing yourselves from history!”  
     “I'd say we've done about the same amount of time traveling Barry, we worked everything out well enough in the end and don't tell me you haven't had close calls yourself. How often have you taken spontaneous trips to the past again?”  
     “I don't want any of you getting erased from the timeline. Or _killed_ , or...”  
     “Thought that was part of the Hero gig? Don't want me playing nice anymore? Should I head back to Central and rob a bank? Get back to the Cold/Flash nemesis battles?” Leonard smirked down at Barry where he'd curled up next to him.  
“Noooo.... I want you to be a hero.” Barry whined miserably, snaking his arms around Leonard's torso and pulling himself half onto Leonard's lap.  
     Leonard allowed the touch warily, the kid had been getting really touchy-feely recently and Leonard wasn't sure why he wasn't more uncomfortable with it. Finally he just ran a hand through Barry's hair as the hero buried his face in Leonard's shirt.  
***  
     “I miss her every day, but That doesn't close my heart to other people. I love Joe just as much as my real father, I love Iris, and my mom...” Barry trailed off in the dark, afraid to add Len's name to the list out loud. Len's hand ran down his bare back under the sheet that covered them both. He didn't reply, just pulled Barry closer.  
***  
     “Are you kidding me? You have to hold that until the whole thing explodes?” Barry exclaimed from over Len's shoulder.  
     “That's how it works, yes.” Len ground out over his racing heart.  
     “Move then! Let me-”  
     “No! I've got this Barry, you wanted me to be a hero, this is me being a hero.”  
     “You already are a hero, you don't have to prove anything! I might actually survive, I just have to outrun the blast!”  
     “Barry, no! Let me do this!”  
     “I'm not leaving you here. I won't just leave and let you die alone!”  
***  
     The Legends looked up from their seats as a streak of lightning heralded the arrival of the Flash. They gaped in shock however as the Flash and _Leonard_ crashed to the floor in front of them.  
     “Am I the only one seeing this?” Jax asked.  
     “We just watched you die.” Mick growled, stomping over to Len.  
     “No... you watched the Occulus explode and thought Len didn't have a way out of it, you didn't actually see him die...” Flash explained as he knelt next to Len.  
     “Well this is just great, is there anything else? Any more surprises besides the Flash being in the Vanishing Point?” Rip asked incredulously.  
     “Actually, I could use another hand.” Len said, raising the burnt stump of his arm where the blast had hit him before Barry had been able to pull him away. Honestly it was incredible he'd been able to get him out of the Occulus with only this much damage.  
     Mick grunted and helped him stand, leading him to the med lab. Flash looked like he was about to follow but Sara blocked his exit.  
     “You really should explain what you're doing here.” She insisted.  
     Barry looked around with a sigh at all of the heroes waiting for an explanation.  
     “Yeah, so I've kind of been on the Waverider since 1892...” Barry admitted.  
     “How...the hell did I not know that!?” Rip shouted, frustrated that once again there were secrets all around him that he didn't even notice.  
     “Well... I asked Gideon not to say anything, so...”  
     “I'm the captain! Gideon why didn't you tell me about the Flash's presence just because he told you not to?” Rip asked the projection hovering over the table.  
     “Mr. Allen is my creator, his orders supersede your own Captain.” Gideon answered.  
***  
     Len brushed his fingers across the burns that covered one side of Barry's face. It wasn't the damage that proved the difference between Barry and his Time Remnant, he was sure that Eobard could have used the spear to scar Barry's face and leave the Time Remnant's skin unblemished but he'd met his Barry in this new world too. Even when neither of them had their real memories there was a darkness to the Time Remnant that his Barry lacked.  
     It had been a surprise that the Legion of Doom had believed his and Mick's betrayal of the Legends, it was a risky plan but Len knew that _someone_ would have to be in a position to remember their team and what they needed to do, and he and Mick were the only ones who had any chance at being believable. The cache of stolen art they'd hid in the Waverider early on had been the selling point, though he could tell that there was still suspicion on them from all sides. Which explained his current predicament.  
     Of all of the things Eobard had changed with the spear this was probably more awkward than disturbing at the moment. Apparently the new memories Eobard had given Savitar-Barry were of a life of petty crimes leading to him seeking out the Rogues like a fanboy when they started their more flamboyant criminal career with their cold and heat guns. Len didn't have any of the same memories, so to him having the eager young criminal lauding his every move when Len knew who he really was had started out shocking and grown into an uncomfortable sort of horror at how his Barry could have turned out if his life had gone even more horribly wrong than it already had.  
     Every time the time remnant pulled him into a kiss Len couldn't help fighting with himself over what was worse, taking advantage of someone who hadn't chosen these feelings for themselves or being involved with the man who had killed his boyfriend's fiance. Savitar-Barry looked at him with adoring eyes, basking in the very presence of the great criminal Captain Cold, and whatever false memories he had of his fictional relationship with Len clearly meant the world to him. His eyes lit up with the same love he saw in his Barry's eyes before all of this happened and Len had trouble pulling away from him every time, even knowing what he did.  
***  
     Eobard's hand plunged through Savitar-Barry's chest where he stood between the speedster and Len. Len felt a pang in his chest as the Time Remnant that loved him died to save him. Somewhere deep down, before he'd become a villain desperate to survive this had been a carbon copy of his Barry, and without his memories of why he hated his original self the Time Remnant had done something heroic. Len caught him as he fell, gasping through bloody lips and staring at Len with sightless eyes, a corner of his mouth trying to pull into a smile.  
     “L--Len-I--lov...” The Time Remnant exhaled his last as the timeline changed around them once again.  
***  
     “Scans of the timeline indicate that Savitar was erased with the rest of Doomworld by Amaya's use of the Spear.” Gideon reported.  
     Len and Barry were curled up on their bed, looking up what had changed so they would know what they were walking into when they returned to 2017. “He's _gone?_ Completely? Not even imprisoned in the speed force but _actually gone?_ ” Barry exclaimed.  
     “So good news then, for your team?” Len asked.  
     “Yeah, I guess it is...” Barry said distractedly. “I guess I have to go back now, explain how it happened. Figure out how to stop Killer Frost... She'll be on her own now...”  
***  
     Barry walked into S.T.A.R. Labs nervously, Len right beside him. He had no idea what kind of welcome he would get, or how much Team Flash knew about how long he'd been gone or what he'd been doing since Iris-. Who was standing right there...Turning to him with a smile of relief...Rushing across the room to hug him...What was going on!?!  
     Barry stood completely still, too shocked to hug her back as the rest of the team reacted.  
     “Dude, I don't know what you did but whatever it was it worked! There was no sign of Savitar at all last night, you gotta tell us how you did it!” Cisco exclaimed.  
     “Barry, I know we've talked about you not time traveling, but you saved Iris and I'm just-” Joe seemed lost for words, clapping Barry on the back as Wally just grinned at him.  
     “I-I didn't do-” Barry stammered as he backed out of their embraces. He glanced over to Len, who stared at Iris with an unreadable expression that Barry had learned meant he was hiding his feelings because the were hurting him. “I didn't think to ask Gideon what Savitar's disappearance might have changed...”  
     “Barry are you okay?” Iris asked worriedly.  
     He stared at her for a minute.  
     “It's... been a lot longer for me than the rest of you... I... You died, Iris... I've been gone for over a year... but...” He glanced at Len again but he didn't have anything to add. “The Legends ended up fighting Eobard and things got changed, Savitar... died to save someone and I guess, the way everything got reset erased him before he k-killed you.” Barry was starting to feel numb. He should be ecstatic that Iris was alive again but he was terrified, he loved Len now! He'd grieved and mourned and finally gotten over Iris's death and now she was back. _Were they still engaged?_ He couldn't just call that off could he? Iris wouldn't want him to lie about his feelings though... _what was he going to do?_  
     “So that explains why Captain Cold isn't dead too?” Cisco asked, squinting at the former thief.  
     “That would be because Scarlet saved me at the last second...second time I've had this hand regrown.” Len explained coolly. “I should check on my sister, see you around kid.” He nodded at Barry and strode away without looking back, and Barry didn't know how to follow him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the ending there is kindof a cliffhanger right... we don't know how it's all going to work out... I was going to have it be something like Barry explains his new relationship to Iris and they go back to being siblings, but I decided I didn't want to trivialize Barry and Iris's relationship to people who are fans of them, which is what I've been risking doing all throughout this story because I'm not really interested in writing Barry/Iris so I thought I'd leave it there where you could go in like three directions: Barry/Iris, ColdFlash, or a convoluted plot about Len going back to crime because of feeling abandoned and having to completely work out their whole relationship all over again. So you can imagine it whichever way you want now! Yay for you right?!  
> Okay but seriously... this story turned out really weird... I ended up having a lot of short barely connected scenes because I was sort of challenging myself to write this idea all in one day and didn't have a lot of time and just wanted to get the whole idea down. I also didn't want it to turn into a huge idea that would need 10 chapters because I already have a bunch of those going and don't want another one right now... so at least I got the story down from start to finish, even if I skipped over a lot of the story that it should have been... sorry if you wanted to read everything that got left unsaid, I kindof do too, but I just couldn't figure out how to make the scenes connect without adding like a whole page to each scene which would have taken weeks of writing minimum, and like I said, I challenged myself to write it all in one day so that I could post it near the episode it was based on and then get back to work on my other ongoing series... so I don't know... I guess if I get a huge amount of feedback asking for more of this story I'd work on it but otherwise...trailing off here...nothing else to say...dot dot dot... :) :P :D


	2. Bonus Chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this is earlier than I thought it would be! I didn't actually challenge myself to write it all in one day like I did with the last chapter, and yet I wrote it in 4 hours anyway, it just kept coming to me...awesome. So here it is Before the season finale of Arrow because I have time today, yay! Instead of like, Friday which I was expecting.

     “Is that all you changed man? Because we've been through this before, and I don't think any of us want any more time travel surprises.” Cisco asked.  
     “Uh, well that's everything we directly did, I don't know if anything else changed, I checked everything I could think of with Gideon but obviously I missed at least one really important detail.” Barry said, flashing a small smile at Iris.  
     “Okay, so quiz time! Iris is alive again apparently, Savitar is dead, what about Killer Frost? Did we find a way to cure Caitlin yet?” Cisco questioned.  
     “Uh, not that I know of, Julian was working on that.”  
     “Who?” H.R. asked.  
     Barry glanced around the room at everyone's confused looks. “Julian Albert?”  
     “Dude, you mean Alchemy? Why would he be helping us with Caitlin?” Cisco asked.  
     “Because... He's part of Team Flash?” Barry asked slowly.  
     “You're telling me there's some world out there Alchemy helps us out?” Joe asked.  
     “Well yeah,” Barry said in even more confusion, “it wasn't his fault Savitar was controlling him, once we managed to separate them Julian was on our side.”  
     “No, no way. Julian Albert is in Iron Heights where he belongs.” Joe insisted.  
     There was more, so much more that was different, people alive who weren't before and vice versa. Jay wasn't trapped in the speedforce this time, Wally had grown up with them all along, though Francine had still left. It was incredible, even to him, someone who'd seen how much time could change before.  
     “Okay then, am I going to jinx it if I ask what else-” Barry started.  
     “Hello everyone, what did I miss?” Hartley Rathaway announced as he strode into the room.  
     Barry stared. “I guess I did. Is _Hartley_ a member of Team Flash again?”  
     “Again? He's been working with us since he helped us find Ronnie and fight the Reverse-Flash.” Cisco, and everyone else were starting to look at Barry like he was crazy, and they were perfectly aware just how crazy time travel could get.  
     “Well yeah, but then after all the time aberrations and everything the Legends did... Hartley went back to being one of the Rogues.” Barry explained carefully, though added thoughtfully “although since I changed what they changed a bit by going along with them during those events I guess I might have stopped them from changing that in the first place?”  
     “Barry, maybe you should just start making a list, whenever you think of something or see something that's different write it down and we can talk about everything as it comes up.” Iris suggested.  
     “Yeah, that's probably a better idea, I have to check in with Felicity anyway, there's something else I need to check.”  
     “Who's that Barry?” Joe asked.  
     “Felicity?” His only answer was blank faces all around. “Overwatch? From Team Arrow?”  
     “You know the Green Arrow?” Cisco started, already grinning with the possibilities he was imagining.  
     “Uh, yeah, we all do. We've teamed up plenty of times? Stopping Captain Boomerang and Reverse-Flash, trying to stop Vandal Savage which I had to time travel for again,” each example got him more strange looks, “the Dominators? Tell me you guys at least remember the alien invasion Supergirl came from Earth-38 to help us out with?”  
     “Supergirl, sure, but Green Arrow wasn't a part of any of that Barry.” Cisco explained carefully, almost sounding worried.  
     “Yeah, okay, I definitely need to talk to Felicity now.” Barry said, speeding out of the room, ignoring the protests shouted after him.  
     He wasn't exactly sure what the best way to approach Felicity, or the rest of Team Arrow might be. He realized halfway to Star City that just rushing in might be a bad idea if they didn't know him, after all Oliver had shot him in the back with arrows even when they were friends. _Imagine what he'd do if Barry just ran in and claimed to know their identities when he shouldn't?_ Probably not the best approach. Felicity might be more open to listening to him, she's the one he'd wanted to talk to in the first place, if he could convince her to listen to him than she could help him convince Oliver.  
***  
     “Woah, what the-” Felicity rushed to try to steady the papers that suddenly were flying of the desk .“Who the hell are you?” She suddenly exclaimed, dropping her attempts to corral the papers as she gaped at Central City's hero, the Flash, standing right in front of her. “Okay, stupid question, I meant what are you doing here?” She practically shouted.  
     “Uh, look, sorry about this but my friends said that they didn't know who you were which means I changed the timeline more than I thought and I figured I was less likely to end up a pincushion if I talked to you first.” The Flash said, almost sounding sheepish.  
     “I don't know what you're talking about.” Felicity's mind was racing. _Pincushion? As in, a joke about being shot full of arrows? Did the Flash know who the Green Arrow was?_  
     “Uh, is this a bad place to talk, like is somebody listening? Do we need to go somewhere else?” The Flash asked.  
     Felicity latched on to the excuse. “Yes! Yes, there are cameras in this room, for security. So you'd better not try anything!” She bluffed.  
     “I know you well enough to know when you're bluffing Felicity. Here's the thing, I know you don't remember but I, and some people I know have the ability to time travel. Sometimes things get changed, people switch sides or never meet, anything you can think of really. Before the timeline changed this time, you and I had been friends for a couple years. I know about your team, I don't mean any harm, I just want to talk to you as a friend and see what changed for you and your team in this new timeline.” The Flash explained. Not that it was a sane explanation.  
     “Are you kidding me? You want me to believe you can time travel?”  
     “Well, White Canary and Atom are on a timeship right now, so I would think you'd at least be aware it's possible?” The Flash seemed to ask.  
     “Okay, how do you know about them... are you really from, what, some other timeline you said?”  
     “Yes, like I said, we were really good friends.”  
     “Prove it! Take off the mask.”  
     “Uh, there really aren't cameras in this room right?” The Flash asked.  
     “Only ones that go to 'my team' like you said, if I'm your friend they are too right?” Felicity insisted.  
     “Well yeah, okay.” The hood came off the Flash's face, not that she recognized the face underneath, but he looked like an average guy.  
***  
     “Seriously, I can't believe I'm friends with a time traveler from another dimension-”  
     Barry cut off Felicity's excited chatter. “Not another dimension, another timeline. Another dimension would be like the other Earth's in the multiverse.”  
     “Other Earths? Seriously? Have you been to any?” Felicity asked.  
     “Yeah, Earth-2, Earth-38. They're pretty cool, different superheroes.” Barry said with a grin.  
     “That's so cool! So you said that it looked like there was a lot different on this timeline than the one you just came from, like what did you want to know?”  
     “Well, obviously I guess I didn't meet you guys before the Particle Accelerator exploded, that's how I found out your identities in the first place, when Oliver was poisoned. Um, the biggest thing is that the last time I changed the timeline this big John and Lyla had a different baby, so they are together right now right?”  
     “Well, yeah, of course, John, Lyla and baby Sara. You're saying they had a different child before?”  
     “Wait, Sara? That's the baby they had first, but after Flashpoint they had John Jr. instead, you mean Sara's back now?” Barry's head was kindof spinning at that.  
     “John Jr.?” Felicity said nervously, glancing over Barry's shoulder.  
     Barry spun around, eyes widening at just about the entire Team Arrow arrayed behind him, some aiming weapons at him. “Hi.” Barry squeaked quietly. Sure he could outrun the weapons but that was still intimidating, he hadn't even noticed them entering the room.  
     “What the hell is he talking about, Felicity? Who is this guy?” Dig asked, gun lowered to point at the floor while Oliver still had an arrow trained on their possible intruder.  
     “This is Barry Allen, the Flash. Apparently he was with Ray and Sara on the Waverider, and they may have changed history more then they meant to. He wanted to see what was different for Team Arrow, which apparently includes us not already knowing him and working with Team Flash.” Felicity explained in a rush, hoping Oliver wouldn't shoot Barry like he'd been worrying about on their way down to the Arrowcave.  
     “And what you were just talking about, are you telling me I have a son?” Dig asked, stomping towards Barry angrily.  
     “No! You did, but you didn't-you weren't supposed to, not originally. Sara was the first one, but then I changed the timeline and you had John Jr., and you were really mad at me about all that. Now it's more like the original timeline, you have your daughter back!” Barry tried to explain as Dig loomed over him where he was sitting in a swivel chair next to Felicity at one of her many computer screens.  
***  
     This was _not_ going well. At all. He'd been threatened by every member of Team Arrow, Oliver had shot him (although it had healed and Felicity had yelled at Oliver for it), and he'd gotten even more angry looks over his confusion at Felicity and Oliver being married for almost a year now.  
     Now he and Oliver had come to a sort of temporary truce, Oliver wouldn't shoot him if Barry would stop rearranging and hiding all of the weapons in the cave at superspeed. They were standing together on one of the higher levels, overlooking the main floor where everyone else was gathered, discussing the changes he'd already explained. Adrian Chase being Prometheus and Evelyn working for him had been a blow, because Evelyn was here with them right now, and Adrian was apparently the mysterious “Vigilante” that Oliver's team hadn't yet been able to catch in the previous timeline.  
     “Oliver on my timeline, well one of the earlier ones, you're the one who inspired me. You're the one who gave me the advice I needed to know that I could be a hero, and use my powers to help people. You're the one who convinced me that I'd be a good hero, and not just some bumbling good Samaritan that would do more harm than good if I got involved.” Barry tried to explain, tried to convince Oliver that they really were friends.  
     “You've given us a lot to think about Barry, and giving up your identity right away does clear a lot of suspicion, but I'm not going to just automatically trust you.” Oliver insisted.  
     “Yeah, okay. I just really wanted to know if I'd messed everything up again with Dig, and then my team told me we didn't even know you guys and I kind of freaked out. I'm sorry I got carried away and barged in to all of your business.” Barry apologized, shaking his head. “I just, I always kind of came to you for advice, and now would be a good time for some of that and you don't even know me... It's not like I can talk to my friends about it, there the ones I need advice about...” Barry sighed. It seemed like this 'new' Oliver wasn't going to be able to help him with his Iris/Len confusion.  
     Oliver watched the speedster carefully for a minute. “Alright, what's the problem you cant talk to your team about?”  
     Barry's head whipped around to stare at him in surprise. “Well... My girlfriend, fiance really, she died, so I joined the Legends. I'd already gone to the future, when I was trying to find a way to stop her from being murdered so I knew I was going to withdraw from everyone and I didn't want that to happen. So I went to the past and joined the Legends, I figured they could get me back here to this specific time with fewer changes than I could manage myself, and by the time I got back I could have grieved and moved on. Then I would be able to be here for her dad, and her brother and all our friends who lost her too, instead of pushing them away like I did the first time. Instead, well, I really did move on. I started seeing someone else but now, because of everything that happened with the Legends, she's not dead in this timeline. We might still be engaged! I've been in love with her since I was a kid and I've seen newspapers from the future that prove we get married... I moved on though... but those feelings are still there... I just don't-” Barry ran his hands through his hair.  
     He'd been sure he loved Len, he'd insisted that Len come with him to STAR Labs so they could tell Team Flash they were together. He'd figured they'd be angry, for them Iris had just died and he'd been a little worried that Wally would punch him in the face, but he'd thought it would be better to tell the truth right away. After all of the trouble he'd gotten into with all of the changes he'd made to the timeline in the past few years he'd really thought that explaining everything properly was the best way to earn his friends forgiveness for everything he'd be putting them through with yet another altered timeline. He'd never expected to have Iris back, for her to be alive again, but now he was remembering all the things he loved about Iris. He'd buried it all so deep down, just to be able to move on, that he'd forgotten every spark and pang and smile she could inspire in him.  
     “That... is not something I can relate to at all. I'm not sure what advice I can give you Barry, besides just regular relationship advice. Figure out how you feel about who, then be honest with everyone involved. Someone's probably going to get hurt, but that's unavoidable, just try not to make things worse with lies and secrets.” Oliver said.  
     Barry looked up at him for a moment. “That doesn't really sound like you. You keep a lot of secrets from Felicity.” Barry's head tilted to look down at the group below them. “Or, you did, I guess. That's why you never got married on the other timeline. She didn't think you could respect and trust her as an equal partner if you had to lie about things to protect her.”  
     “Well on this timeline” and he was still having trouble with taking separate timelines seriously which he was sure Barry could see on his face “she pretty much kicked my ass with everything you just said. I got over myself, it's been a struggle sometimes, I'm not just going to stop doing whatever I have to to protect the people I care about. She's gotten better at spotting when I'm not saying everything though, so it works better I think, when she can call me out on it.”  
     “So things worked out with William better here then?” Barry asked.  
     Oliver had no idea what that sentence was about. “Who?”  
     Barry glanced over at him guiltily. Yep, this kid definitely should just tell the truth, he would be no good at lying to his fiance. “Your, uh, your son?” He finally whispered.  
     Oliver felt his heart rate kick up and couldn't seem to focus enough to calm it down again with any of the techniques he used. He had no idea what Barry was talking about. _Did he have a son in the other timeline? Was this how John had felt, hearing about John Jr. from that other timeline?_ “What are you talking about?” He finally managed to ask.  
     Barry was looking at him with concern, like he'd realized a mistake. “I'm sorry, I don't know if he exists here, I didn't check that either! If you weren't in Central when we helped the Legends try to stop Savage then you didn't run into Samantha and William! I'm sorry!”  
     Oliver felt dizzy. He had to get this under control, he had to breathe. Barry was rubbing his back as he braced himself on the railing, trying to calm down.  
     “Oliver!” Felicity shouted, jumping from her chair. Everyone was turning to look up at them, and Oliver didn't really want anyone attacking Barry, thinking he'd done something to him. He also knew this was probably what Barry was talking about, he'd probably kept this a secret from Felicity and it had stopped them from getting married in the other timeline. That realization got his mind working again. He took a deep breath and straitened, heading for the stairs down to the main floor.  
     “Felicity, I need you to look up some people in Central City, Samantha and William-” He glanced back at Barry who had followed him down the stairs but was hanging back as he strode through his gathered team to join Felicity at her computers.  
     Barry glanced around nervously at the suspicious looks he was getting but answered anyway. “Clayton, she wasn't really hiding from you so she kept her name and everything.”  
     “Okay, searching for Samantha and William Clayton, who are they?” Felicity asked, turning to him as the search was running on the screen.  
     “On the other timeline,” Oliver took a deep breath. Looking at Felicity, the woman he loved, the woman he was determined not to ruin his relationship with Oliver found the strength to go on. “Apparently John isn't the only one who had a son.”  
***  
     That was not what she was expecting. Oliver looked lost, and he'd looked like he was about to have a panic attack before he'd rejoined them on the main floor. She reached out and held his hand, glad that he hadn't tried to deal with this on his own. Felicity pulled him closer to the computers as a beep indicated the end of the search, that hadn't taken long. If what Barry had said about this woman, whoever she was, was true that she wasn't actually trying to hide anything then the search shouldn't have taken long in any case.  
     Pictures popped up on the screens in front of them, a woman and a child outside of a school, a house, at a coffee shop called Jitters. “Is this them?” Felicity asked, craning her head around to look for Barry, still hiding at the edge of where Team Arrow had seemed to close ranks around their leader.  
     Barry nervously made his way through to take a closer look at the screen. “Yeah,” he seemed to sag in relief, probably at not having to tell them that they didn't exist on this 'new timeline' after all. “That's them, Oliver had me do a DNA test on some of William's hair because Sam lied when Oliver asked her if William was his son.”  
***  
     Barry was kind of exhausted. He flopped down on the couch in his and Iris's apartment back in Central and stared at the ceiling. He'd had to explain everything that had happened with Sam and William the first time around over and over again. It hadn't helped that time travel had been involved then too, that Oliver had met his son for the first time twice already and the problems it had caused him and Felicity. Team Arrow hadn't been surprised at Oliver's deceptive behavior in those instances, even teased him about it a little, though not too much since it was such an obviously heavy subject. Still, despite his gratitude that Team Arrow and Team Flash looked like they would be on friendly terms again in this timeline it had turned into more work than he'd expected when he'd just impulsively run over to Star City and he just wanted a break. Apparently that wasn't going to happen.  
     The front door open and Iris walked in. “Barry! Cisco said he tracked your suit back here, was everything alright in Star City?” Iris asked, coming around the couch to get a good look at him.  
     Barry just stared at her for a while, until finally she sat down next to him and took his hand. “Yeah, it went fine. They didn't trust me at first, and then I had to explain EVERYTHING so it was kind of draining.” he said finally, glancing away from her but holding her hand tightly. He felt like he couldn't meet her eyes. Oliver was right, he had to figure out how he felt about everything, he just didn't know how he would be able to see things clearly when Iris was _right here_ with him. _How could he even think of choosing not to be with her?_ He'd loved her since he was a child, somehow what he had with Len didn't seem as deep in comparison, _but he knew that wasn't true!_ So many times on the Waverider he'd felt like Len knew him better than he'd known himself, better than Iris knew him, but it was like every time Iris was in front of him she was the only one he could see.  
     Len had probably known that. That's probably why he'd left, he thought Barry would be so blinded by the woman he'd loved almost all his life that he wouldn't even be able to see Len over the glare. His heart clenched at the thought. _How was Len feeling about this? Was he as confused and hurt as Barry was right now? Where had he gone, to see his sister?_ Barry wanted to run and find him, right now, but then Iris was leaning over and kissing him and...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and that ending! You can tell that's a cliffhanger right? Don't worry, there will be a third (I'm planning final) chapter, it's not going to pick up from the scene this one ended on, that trailing off was supposed to show how confused/lost/unsure Barry is about everything, that he's just kind of letting life happen at this point and doesn't know how to get back to controlling his life/deciding what he wants. I know I got kind of off track on the Barry/Iris & Barry/Len stuff for a while there, I was just on a roll with the time travel changes. Chapter 3 will be a little longer, not sure how long, ABSOLUTELY NOT as far away as a month like a lot of my updates tend to be, I just don't feel comfortable saying an exact time though, sorry. I am hoping no more than a week but like I said, I'm not comfortable promising anything.  
> Okay, so I realize that I changed things that happened before this instance of Barry's time travel, but consider it like the animated film of the Flashpoint Paradox where Reverse-Flash explains the Time Boom that changed the past as well as the present/future.  
> And if anyone is confused about the changes in the timeline leave a comment, I don't mind trying to explain what all I changed/changed back.


	3. Bonus Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I went really crazy changing how the characters are related in this story as opposed to New Earth continuity, but I'm just not that big a fan of original characters having major roles, seeing as there are already so many pre-existing characters to choose from.  
> Argh... I ran into trouble again transitioning from scene to scene, so there are a bunch of shorter scenes again. :(  
> I am so sorry! this was supposed to be posted last Friday but I got sick and there was so much real life argh!!!!!!!! This was also supposed to be the last chapter but I wasn't satisfied with the feelings/thoughts from Barry and Len, I felt that I couldn't focus enough on writing, so I split this chapter and I'm trying to make the now fourth chapter better/deeper/whatever, sorry! D:

     Dinosaurs. Okay. There were dinosaurs in 2017 Los Angeles. They were definitely all freaking out about this. Unfortunately they didn't have time to express it, seeing as _dinosaurs!_  
     Len should have known better. Going on vacation with the Legends couldn't possibly have just been a sun-filled getaway to Aruba, of course there would be a time-travel disaster along the way. He would have stayed in Central City if- if. If Iris hadn't been alive. Damn, it wasn't like he could wish her dead, Barry loved her and he'd lost far too many people he loved for Len to want another one of them to die, but still, he'd just started to think that-  
     _No!_ He didn't have time for introspection, they had to get the Waverider out of the street where it had taken a nosedive before the dinosaurs went Jurassic Park on them and got inside the ship. It wasn't long before the dinosaurs started sniffing around the front of the ship, they had crashed just feet away from the pack of what looked like velociraptors.  
     “Those things aren't going to make it inside the ship are they?” Lisa's voice shook as a raptor landed on the window and peered in at them.  
     “Not strait through the window, but if any of the hatches came loose in the crash they could pry them open easily enough.” Rip answered.  
     Everyone was out of their seats by now, and Jax headed to the engines to make sure everything was operating properly. Lisa was glaring at him, obviously furious that they'd landed in Jurassic Park instead of a tropical beach, even though she'd been the one to insist that Len wasn't leaving her behind in Central again after more than a year's absence. He couldn't blame her really, he hadn't told her much before he'd left with the Legends and for a while she'd thought he'd been dead.  
     It was nerve wracking, watching and listening to the dinosaurs prowling around the outside of the ship, scratching at the panels and headbutting the windows and doors. Time seemed to stretch out as they waited for news from Jax on the engines. In the end they'd all grabbed their weapons and each taken a door, hatch or window to watch just in case.  
     With Jax's affirmation that the engines were operational the ship lifted into the air finally and though the craft shuddered they managed to get high enough to land on a rooftop a few blocks away from the dinosaurs.  
     “Jax, get those engines working 100%, Gideon knows what needs repairing, everybody pick something and get to work we need the Waverider up and running fast if we're going to fix this.” Sara ordered. They'd all learned enough about the ship over the last year to be able to repair certain necessary systems when they had to and Nate, Ray, Martin and Len headed off.  
     Instead of following Sara's order, Lisa, Rip and Mick left the ship to get a look at the city with their own eyes. It wasn't just the presence of dinosaurs, the streets were cracked and uneven and some of the buildings were twisted in impossible angles and shapes.  
     “This is insane. You guys deal with this all the time?” Lisa asked, taking in the twisting skyscrapers.  
     “Not this. This is the consequence of breaking the first rule of time travel, never go to a time you've already traveled to and meet your younger selves. The entire world could end up like this if we don't sort it out.” Rip explained dejectedly.  
     “Guys! We've got another time aberration incoming. Gideon's having trouble tracking just what it is but supposedly it's heading right for us.” Sara announced as the rest of the team joined them outside. They all looked around, wondering how exactly they were supposed to know what the time aberration was just on sight when everything around them was an anachronism. Out of nowhere trails of yellow and green light streaked through the city below and as they watched the lights raced up the side of the building on which they perched and suddenly two children stood before them.  
     “See! I told you it wasn't one of us!” The boy in yellow exclaimed to the boy in green.  
     “Fine! Whatever, just stop talking already!” The green one growled angrily.  
     “Well this is familiar. The last time a speedster showed up in front of us he'd completely undermined our mission. What are these two going to do?” Rip muttered to himself.  
     “Hey! Who are you kids, and how did you get here?” Sara demanded of the bickering speedsters who seemed to have forgotten their audience as they argued too fast for anyone else to hear.  
     They both looked up in surprise at having forgotten they weren't alone and the yellow one raced forward, suddenly right in front of Sara. “Hi! I'm Impulse! He's Inertia,” the yellow one said as he flung out an arm dramatically at the green one, “and you just stopped us from being born! Seriously what did you do?” This little speech started out chipper and ended up demanding.  
     “Hold on, who are Inertia and Impulse? We've never heard of you.” Ray said.  
     “We're _from_ 2206! We traveled here from 2036. All of a sudden Gideon started glitching and the only thing I could get Gideon to say before the entire system went down was that the Reverse-Flash was erased from the timeline!” Inertia answered irritably. “This idiot was the only one willing to help me come back and find out what happened, while the Flash wanted to wait and see if any of his _friends_ could fix _him_ without messing with time, even though obviously time needs to be messed with since someone did something they shouldn't have.” Inertia glared around at the assembled Legends, making it clear that he knew they were the culprits.  
     “Leonard, I think we probably need the Flash back here for this. Think you could call him?” Sara asked as she eyed the speedsters who'd resumed arguing with one another and were no longer paying the Legends any attention.  
***  
     “Iris, I can't do this.” Barry said. He'd pushed her away after the kiss, too conflicted to let it go any further and the odd look she'd given him had make it clear that he needed to tell her the truth.  
     “I know it must have been horrible seeing me die Barry, but it's okay now, I'm alive. I'm right here.” Iris said, taking his hand as they sat together on the couch.  
     “It's not that. It's not _only_ that.” Barry insisted. He was having a hard time looking at her, staring at his knees instead.  
     “What is it then? You can talk to me Barry, you know you can.” Iris insisted.  
     Barry sighed, trying to wrest his emotions into something recognizable with little success. “I was gone for... over a year. It's not just that things are different in this timeline, its... I'm sorry, I didn't expect it but I... moved on, with someone.” Barry managed to glance up at her, just for a moment, registering the shock in her eyes before he had to look away. “I don't know what I feel now though! Seeing you again, I though I had to move on, after seeing the future where I never get over your death... I didn't want that to happen, I wanted to be able to be there for Joe, and Wally and everyone. Seeing you alive again, I just don't know what to do!”  
     Iris reached out and touched his shoulder, rubbing it gently to comfort him but he heard the catch in her voice. “Does that mean... are we not... do you not want to be engaged?”  
     Barry extricated his hand from hers and buried his hands in his hair as he bowed his head. “I don't know!” He shook for a moment, tears welling up. “I love you! I always have! How could I ever stop loving you? I- I love him too!”  
     “Him?” Iris asked in confusion. “Captain Cold?” She realized suddenly.  
     “I thought I should tell everyone right away. The last time I changed the timeline everyone was so angry about the differences, the things that... they'd lost...”  
     “Barry, I don't know what to say. You know I love you-” Iris was suddenly cut off by a ringtone, shockingly loud in their quiet apartment. _“~That's just the tip of the iceberg, I'll do whatever it takes, to change~”_  
     “That's him isn't it?” Iris asked, subdued.  
     “Yeah.” Barry said feeling depressed, alone even as he had the attention of two people who loved him. Iris pulled away from him, resting her hands in her lap as he slowly took his hands from his hair and pulled the phone from his pocket.  
     “Hello?” He answered dully.  
     “We've got a problem, Scarlet.” Len drawled, voice his usual cool tone he used when they were on a mission and he wasn't about to let emotions get in the way of success. “Los Angeles just turned into Jurassic Park and there are two speedster kids here that say erasing Eobard from the timeline prevents them from ever being born.”  
     Barry just stared at the coffee table in front of him for a minute. _What. Okay. Sure._ “I'll be there in a minute.” He said, hanging up.  
     He looked over at Iris, who was watching him carefully. “There are dinosaurs in L.A. The Legends need my help, something must have gone wrong on the last mission.”  
     Iris nodded in understanding and as Barry flashed away he pretended not to hear her crying in earnest once she thought she was alone. He left the apartment as soon as he'd gotten back into the Flash suit and stopped at STAR Labs on the way to let everyone know where he was going and why, He'd learned his lesson about disappearing on time travel missions without a word by now. _He couldn't believe he'd left things that way with Iris. He was just making_ everything _worse._  
     Getting to L.A. didn't take long, dodging through the twisted, sideways, upside-down buildings and around cracked and crumbling streets took more concentration. Len was standing on a rooftop's edge as Barry skated past the dinosaurs and looked around for the Waverider. He joined Len on the roof and Len stared at him blankly for a moment.  
     “They're all inside.” He said, turning to the ship.  
     “Len-” Barry grabbed his sleeve. “I- You didn't have to leave, we should-”  
     “How's Iris?” Len asked coldly.  
     Barry paused, trying to catch Len's eyes but the other man wouldn't look at him. “Crying when I left, I told her about you, us.”  
     Len shuddered and finally looked at him, but his eyes were still guarded. “Us?”  
     “I don't know Len. I don't know what to do... I love both of you, so much.”  
     Len shook his head and pulled his sleeve free. “We have work to do. Impulse and Inertia aren't making a lot of sense. You're the only one who'll be able to keep up with half of what they're saying.”  
     Barry followed Len into the ship and they headed strait for the kitchen. Bary got a glimpse inside of most of the team gathered and staring at two boys dressed in yellow and green. _Impulse and Inertia?_ Before they'd even made it through the door one of the kids turned to them and flashed across the room.  
***  
     “DAD!” The boy in yellow shouted and suddenly Leonard was being squeezed in a giant hug from the tiny speedster.  
     “What?!” Len exclaimed, staring down at the kid.  
     “You idiot, he doesn't know you yet. He and Flash probably aren't even together yet.” the boy in green scoffed from across the room.  
     “Um...” Barry said as he stepped into the room behind Len.  
     “Dad!” the boy in yellow shouted again and hugged the Flash too.  
     “Should just kill him now and find out if we're in a self perpetuating time loop.” the boy in green muttered, glancing away from the one sided family reunion.  
     “Um, so you boys are from the future?” Barry asked uncertainly.  
     “Yes.” “Yep.” Inertia and Impulse affirmed at once.  
     “...and we're related?” Flash asked Impulse, placing a hand on his shoulder nervously.  
     “You're my dad! Duh, I just said that out loud didn't I?” Impulse pulled back from his hug just a bit to look Flash in the eyes.  
     “What about him? You two don't seem to get along.” Len interjected.  
     “He's my brother!” Impulse said with another grand sweeping gesture. Barry and Len traded a glance. The kid seemed to enjoy being dramatic.  
     “I am NOT your brother!” Inertia spat out with more venom than anyone was expecting, except perhaps Impulse who didn't seem to hear the rage in Inertia's voice.  
     “Are too!”  
     “Am NOT!”  
     “Are TOO!”  
     “NOT!”  
     “TOO!”  
     “NOT!”  
     “TOO!”  
     As the argument devolved to childish absurdity the young speedsters wound up crossing the room and getting in each others faces, even leading to Inertia shoving Impulse.  
     “Okay! Okay! Okay, boys calm down. Explain or don't, just stop shouting.” Barry said as he stepped between them and pushed them apart a step.  
     “We're clones, not brothers.” Inertia explained, stepping away from Barry. “If I'm your brother then your 'dad' is your brother too, stop being childish.” Inertia demanded aside to Impulse.  
     “You're both being childish, now how did the changes we made to the timeline start threatening your existence?” Len asked the question the rest of the Legends had been waiting to have answered. It was both disconcerting and fascinating watching a speedster family drama play out in their small mess hall.  
     “Well you erased Reverse-Flash, like he was never born in the first place. Which means he's never going to create us, and no one else can either, since he blended his own DNA with the Flash's DNA to make us.” Inertia explained as he crossed his arms to glare at Barry.  
     “Hold on, you're half clones of Barry and half clones of Eobard?” Nate repeated.  
     “Then why did you call Len your dad?” Lisa asked Impulse.  
     “Cuz he is! Len and-”  
     “Stop! You're going to change the future! We're here to change the past!” Inertia demanded, reaching for Impulse. Suddenly the two of them were just streaks of yellow and green lighting around the room that only Barry's eyes could follow.  
     Barry watched for a second before a startled gasp and wide eyed reaction to something the rest of them couldn't see had him racing forward and suddenly Impulse was hiding behind Len as Barry restrained Inertia in a bear hug.  
     “Release me!” Inertia demanded.  
     “Len is he okay?” Barry asked, nodding to Impulse.  
     Impulse whimpered and Len stepped away from him to turn and get a better look, giving everyone in the room a clear view of Impulse trying to straiten out his broken arm.  
     “What the hell?” Len said, reaching to help the boy to a chair and keep him from making the arm worse.  
     “I know how to fix it!” Impulse insisted between whimpers.  
     “Since when do brothers break each other's arms?” Sara asked Inertia who was still trying to phase out of Barry's hold.  
     “He's Eobard's sidekick.” Impulse answered absently as he carefully observed Len straitening out his arm for him. It was already healing as everything lined up properly again. “We were both supposed to help destroy the Flash, but dad stole me and is teaching me to be a hero like him!” Impulse explained more cheerfully as he flexed his apparently now perfectly healed arm.  
***  
     They had arrived in Doomworld just in time for their past selves confrontation with the Legion of Doom. Even if they could get the spear for themselves they would be risking just the same fate they'd already wound up with if they all charged in. They would meet their past selves and disrupt the timeline too deeply, landing themselves back in a 2017 once again wrecked with disaster and full of prehistoric predators. Impulse, Inertia and Golden Glider were the only ones who hadn't already been in this time and place so they were the only ones that could be sent out at all and despite Len's arguments that his little sister shouldn't be involved everyone agreed that the speedsters couldn't be left unsupervised. An observation that was immediately proven correct as the children raced ahead and laid out half the combatants before Lisa even arrived.  
     Luckily, Lisa supposed, the other Legends team were keeping Eobard too busy to notice the twin speedsters arguing over the spear that they'd stolen right out of Merlyn's hands. She shot a blast of gold at him before he could shoot an arrow at them, not that he'd have hit them if they'd been paying attention to anyone but each other.  
     “Let go of the spear!” Inertia demanded.  
     “And let you rewrite history? You'll probably erase me!” Impulse shouted back.  
     “As if you even know how to use it!” Inertia shoved Impulse back as he tried to twist the spear out of the other clone's hands.  
     “I can do this! I don't need your help.” Impulse shoved back.  
     “We're supposed to bring the spear back to the ship you brats!” Lisa said as she finally made it over to them and set her own hand on the spear. Before she could attempt to tug it out of both of their grasps the world flared with light and disappeared into blank whiteness around the three of them.  
***  
     Impulse and Inertia, spear of destiny clutched in both of their hands, suddenly appeared on the Waverider surrounded by the Legends, and the Flash. Lisa stumbled away from the pair, trying to keep down the contents of her stomach as she collapsed on the nearest chair. The speedsters looked up guiltily as the team looked them over. Vixen stepped forward and tugged the spear out of their hands, both of the kids feeling too guilty to keep ahold of it.  
     “Gideon, do we know what Impulse and Inertia changed?” Sara asked with a glance at Lisa. She assumed that Glider's reaction meant the kids had overpowered her somehow and had been the real ones to use the spear.  
     “Once again Doomworld has been erased from the timeline. Notable changes to this timeline include the return of Eobard Thawne to his future time on May 19, 2015, the survival of Eddie Thawne, the survival of Savitar after Doomworld's destruction, avoidance of the Legends meeting their younger selves in 1916 causing the anachronisms in L.A. 2017, and the death of H.R. Wells taking the place of Iris West on May 23, 2017.” Gideon listed.  
     “Then it looks like we're good for the moment. Are there any time quakes or aberrations we need to be worried about?” Sara asked.  
     Barry tuned out the rest of the conversation. Iris was still alive, thank god, but the rest of it... _He'd already been panicking about the last reset of the timeline and now all of this?_ He'd have to find a way to defeat Savitar, _would he still try to kill Iris? Was Iris with Eddie on this timeline since he'd apparently never died, had they gotten married? How had H.R. Died?_  
     “We need a closer look at this. We're going back to 2017.” Sara announced and everyone took a seat. “Barry, check with your team, Ray and I'll go to Star City, the rest of you either check up on Central City or stay with the ship. We can't relax until we know the timeline is safe.”  
***  
     “Barry! Where did you go? We've got a problem with Savitar and Killer Frost!” Joe asked as they met him in the hall. “Wait a second, who are these two, I thought you took Snart back to 1892?” Joe asked as his eyes ran over Impulse, Inertia and Captain Cold walking into STAR Labs with his son.  
     “Uh, that should probably wait till we can talk with the rest of the team-” Barry started but suddenly the two kids streaked past them and ahead to the main room.  
     Joe stared at the yellow and green light trails following behind the kids and gave his son the same look that always cowed Barry into explaining just what he'd done this time. Barry shifted his feet and licked his lips nervously but explained. So another time travel incident, and the kids _Impulse and Inertia apparently_ , were his clones from the future who'd time traveled to the present themselves.  
     They entered the main room just as Impulse was finishing explaining who he was to the rest of the team. Cisco was fascinated by seeing real life clones, Wally was eying Inertia warily, and Iris was already hugging Impulse and comparing him to Barry at that age. Cute but they had two new prisoners in the pipeline to deal with at the moment.  
     “Killer Frost brought Savitar here.” Joe prompted the entire room back on topic. Turning to Barry he continued, “she said there's something wrong with Savitar's memory again, different than last time. Apparently he thinks he's someone else.”  
     “Yeah, he still has his speed but he acts just like Barry does but without the memories, apparently she really freaked him out when she asked about how his plan to kill Iris went, tried to run out of their hideout so she had to freeze him a little. She brought him here when she realized he wasn't going to calm down with just her there.” Cisco said.  
     “So he doesn't know who he is at all, or he has different memories than he used to have?” Captain Cold asked.  
     “No replacement memories, he has all the 'learned to walk and talk' knowledge but no memories of birthday parties or family get togethers or anything.”  
     “So he's not a threat to Iris at the moment?” Barry asked with relief.  
     “Um... I don't think he will be at all, I think we might have changed that...” Impulse glanced at Inertia as he spoke but the sullen boy didn't confirm or deny anything.  
     “Changed that how?” Wally demanded.  
     “With the spear, I think he's a different person now? Or something like that, some of it got kind of fuzzy.” Impulse tried to explain.  
     The team gathered around and interrogated the clones thoroughly about their experience with using the Spear of Destiny, Inertia seemed to remember it much more clearly though he was more difficult to convince to share his information.  
***  
     “I'm leaving Barry. I told you, he needs me more than you do.” Iris said without looking up from the suitcase she was packing.  
     “You mean you're taking him, what, on a road trip?” Barry asked.  
     “I don't think he should stay here. He may not be getting your memories anymore but he knows that he's supposed to be you and seeing you, and your life, every day can't be good for him. He needs to build his own life, figure out who he can be besides you.” Iris explained.  
     Barry stared at her, completely at a loss as to what he should say. _What could he say? 'Please don't leave while I take forever to sort out whether I still love you or not?', 'Wait for me to decide that I don't want to marry you after all before you run off with my time remnant?'_ He couldn't say anything like that. If he wasn't going to make up his mind about what his heart was telling him then he couldn't stop her from making her own choices for her own life.  
     He didn't know what he could say, so he left. Sitting on the couch he just listened as Iris packed her things. His thoughts turned to Len, _would Len be as fed up with him as Iris was? Was he taking too long to decide who he wanted to be with? Was he going to end up alone?_ Should _he end up alone?_ Barry put his face in his hands. At the moment he just wanted to be in Len's arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I just made up Impulse and Inertia being from 2206, basically if “Eobard was born in the year 2151” then “After gaining the Speed Force presumably sometime in the 2190s” he was probably the Reverse-Flash for a couple years first before starting any cloning experiments, so Bart and Thaddeus are probably created late 2190's/early 2200's so I picked the 2200's.  
> Barry's ringtone for Len is from “The Tip of the Iceberg” by Owl City.  
> My random thoughts: Okay, does it bother anyone else how much the Legends change history without it affecting Arrow/The Flash or creating a paradox and they just label it a 'time aberration' but every time Barry does ANYTHING time travel related someone has to die forever or get locked up in the speedforce or there's an irreversible disaster??? Does Legends of Tomorrow's Season 2 finale happen AFTER the finale's of Arrow and The Flash despite being aired first or does it just not affect Star and Central that there are DINOSAURS in Los Angeles???


	4. Bonus Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this chapter was inspired/requested by MoroseS! I hope I did okay with this ending!

     She was really gone. Not dead, but lost to him now. Barry still couldn't believe it, that Iris had left with _Savitar_. Sure, he didn't remember _being_ Savitar, he thought he was 'Average Joe' Barry Allen who would never hurt a fly. Well he _was_ Barry Allen, they'd had to give him a new name, a whole new identity before they could let him start wandering around on his own. Barry had left most of that to the rest of Team Flash, Savitar was as uncomfortable around Barry as Barry was around him. Cisco had actually consulted with Felicity, now that Team Flash and Team Arrow were allies on this timeline Cisco had jumped at the chance to talk shop with the infamous Overwatch. They'd come up with a 'twins switched at birth' scheme so that some of the paperwork could just be duplicated from Barry's and that was as much as Barry had to be involved. He'd been grateful for that at the time, it had given him time to talk to Iris.  
     He was regretting it now, watching Iris leave their home, leave him for someone else. He wanted to run strait to Len, but he couldn't imagine being welcome. Showing up crying about his girlfriend leaving him when Len was waiting for him to decide between them. It would look like Barry wanted to choose Iris, like Len was his consolation prize, and he wasn't. _He wasn't._ That was it! He'd always wondered and worried that because he and Len hadn't gotten together until after Iris died that he and Len never would have gotten together if Iris was alive, but if he broke it down to basics Barry realized that it was simple. Right now he was hurting, and Len was the one he wanted to go to to feel better. He could have wanted Iris to come back and comfort him, he could have wanted to race after her and beg her to stay, but no. Right now he wanted to be with Len! So he would be. He just hoped Len wouldn't turn him away.  
     Barry shot to his feet and raced across the city. He knew the address, apparently Cisco and Lisa had more of a thing going on this timeline than they'd had on any other that Barry knew of so Team Flash, well Cisco at least was well aware of her current safe house. If anyone knew where Len was it would be his sister. His knock on the door was answered fairly quickly and Lisa was crowding him back away from her house.  
     “You've got some nerve showing up, speedy. Make up your mind yet?” She demanded, raising her gold gun in full view of any neighbors that might be watching, not that there probably were any in this neighborhood.  
     “Is Len here?” Barry asked faintly, he wasn't sure if he was up to dealing with Lisa like this.  
     Lisa stared at him for a while before deciding on an answer. “If you hurt Lenny again I'll be sending a golden CSI statue to the CCPD tomorrow.” She threatened as she spun and disappeared inside.  
     It wasn't much of an answer but Barry followed her inside nervously. Len was waiting at the kitchen table, sharing a beer with Mick. Lisa raised her gold gun at him again and asked her brother “did you want to see the roadrunner or should I drop a safe on him?”  
     Len quirked an eyebrow at Barry's discomfort but talked his sister down and led Barry to another room. “So, make up your mind, or did Iris make the decision for you?” Len said, arms crossed and no hint at his feelings in the blank expression on his face as he stood over Barry who'd taken a seat on the edge of the bed.  
     “I don't know what to say Len, I just don't.” Barry said miserably. “I came here because I wanted to see you, spend time with you. If Iris came in this room right now I wouldn't leave with her, I'd want to stay.”  
     “She won't be though, Lisa talked to Cisco. Your girl is headed on the road with your new twin brother.” Len said coldly.  
     “Len I... I wanted to see you. That's why I came here. That's all I know right now.” Barry repeated.  
     Apparently Len was generous enough to take pity on him. He sat down on the bed next to Barry. There was silence for a while as they didn't look at each other, just stared ahead at the wall, not touching even though Barry wanted to take Len's hand or for Len to pull him into his arms.  
     “I guess I can't really imagine what's going on in your head, I've never been in love with two people at the same time before. Lisa's the only one who's ever been more important than anything else to me. I'm happy with you Barry, and I thought that this might last a while.” Len finally looked over at him, Barry could barely breathe, it sounded like Len was saying... he couldn't be saying... _was Len going to leave him?_ Len seemed to know what was going on in Barry's head, of course he did, and he even took Barry's hand. Finally. Barry's breathing evened out again.  
     Len started speaking again, when he seemed sure that he had Barry's attention. “Like a million shows, movies and books have espoused over the years, you never forget your first love. I can't say I really know what they mean, I don't think I've ever felt about anyone the way you feel for Iris, but that doesn't mean that you can't move on to someone else and be just as happy. There's more to a relationship than love and I don't think we live in a Disney world Barry. It takes work to keep up a lasting, healthy partnership, so are you ready to work at _us_ or are you going to run away the second Iris crooks a finger at you?”  
     Barry felt like their joined hands were the only anchor he had to the real world. Everything else seemed drifting and insubstantial. He took a deep breath and moved forward the only way he imagined he could. “I want to be here right now Len, I do. I want to stay with you.”  
***  
***  
June 2, 2024  
     The Future. It didn't look all that different from 2017, though he supposed that was because he'd actually traveled to this time the old fashioned way, by living through it. He was still a superhero, keeping Central safe, or trying but Eobard had been making things particularly difficult for the last few months. They'd gotten into a kind of stalemate over the years, at this point Eobard didn't bother threatening to go back in time and kill his loved ones anymore, they'd played that game often enough that they both had grown tired of rewriting the timeline after every misstep. They had an unspoken understanding that they wouldn't erase each other from existence anymore, instead Eobard would keep trying to prove he was better, faster, that the Flash would let Central City down in the end and Barry would just keep trying to prove him wrong. Barry wondered if he thought it would have gotten tedious if he didn't know what was coming.  
     The battle was going well so far, Eobard's plan had already failed and Oliver, Ray and Kendra were throwing enough projectiles to trip him up often enough that he couldn't just race away from them and disappear. The two oil trucks who's driver's he'd raced away to a safe distance were a problem but Barry was more concerned with the mysterious event he knew was coming. He'd always wondered why Eobard had 'reappeared' via his trip to the past but Barry himself had seemingly remained missing. Out of the corner of his eye Barry saw a red flash of light but it was gone before he could look for it's source. He huffed out a nervous breath and raced ahead to trip Eobard up but as always the man seemed to be thinking ahead.  
     Another flash of red caught Barry's eye and he started briefly. It was disconcerting, seeing another version of himself gesturing for him reminded him suddenly of the first time he'd tried to go back and save his mother, when his older self had told him not to. This time though, his older self wanted him to come closer. Barry glanced back at the fight, Eobard was distracted enough that he seemed to not have noticed a new speedster arriving, so he dashed over to the alley where his other self was waiting.  
     “Any second now.” The older Flash said, peering over his shoulder at the battle.  
     “What's going to happen?” Barry asked. He wasn't sure where to look but settled for following his older self's gaze, assuming the other man would explain the other point that drew his attention in a moment.  
     “Someone else is going to come get Eobard, like they're supposed to if anyone breaks into his lab, which I just did.”  
     “You mean it wasn't both of us that disappeared, just him?” Barry asked in surprise. That changed a fundamental worry he'd held for almost ten years.  
     They watched together in silence as the flash of light appeared and Eobard vanished, leaving his friends staring blankly at the suddenly empty battlefield and wondering where the speedsters had gone. His older self moved further into the alley to avoid the other heroes notice and Barry followed.  
     “Impulse?” Barry asked, peering at the bundle in his older self's arms.  
     “He'll be safer here than the future. Eobard's the only one that can come after him in the past.” The older Flash explained.  
     “What about Inertia?”  
     “He's going to be more difficult to find, they weren't together at the time.” The older Flash answered as he held out the baby.  
     Barry took the baby into his arms as his older self patted his shoulder and caressed the child's head one last time before running off, back to the future probably. Barry forgot all about his friends still searching the battlefield behind him, wondering whether he could run while holding Impulse. The kid was already a speedster, but he was still a baby, _how exactly was he supposed to get home while still in the Flash suit and carrying a child?_  
***  
     Iris looked over the article on her computer one last time before she submitted it. “Flash Missing Vanishes In Crisis”. She'd been waiting almost a decade to write this article, it had been the source of years of turmoil and confusion, and just the byline had thrown all of her expectations on their head at one point. She still thought fondly of Eddie, even though he had transferred to Keystone years ago, and seeing Barry on only holidays and as the Flash during emergencies wasn't as heartbreaking as she'd long ago thought it would be. Barry would always be special, as special as the Flash was to the people of Central City, but now he was her brother again and she'd finally found the right man to marry.  
     She submitted the article and shut down her computer, waving to her coworkers as she signed out for the day. Malcolm Allen, her wonderful husband, met her at the door. He was grinning wide and happy at her, finally comfortable ignoring the way a smile twisted the burns on his face and returning her kiss as they walked home hand in hand.  
     Iris didn't need to wait to hear her editor's announcement, she already knew that tomorrow everyone would read her article on the front page; “Flash Missing Vanishes In Crisis” by Iris West-Allen.  
***  
     Today was the day. They day the Flash was supposed to go missing. Captain Cold re-scanned the timeline for anomalies, again.  
     “Doesn't it seem like a bit too much of a coincidence that _today_ is the day he's supposed to disappear?” Lisa asked her brother and captain.  
     “Maybe, but remind me again what happened on your last birthday?” Len asked as he stepped away from the main console of his timeship, the Acheron.  
     “Resurgence of Thanagarian forces in 2176, we ended up having to steal weapons from cold war stockpiles to bring to the future just to head off their spacecraft.” Lisa sighed. They'd gotten a hell of a dressing down from Rip Hunter, now the head of the new Time Master's council, for that mission. Of course Len had talked their way out of any real punishment over it, which had been a subject of humor between the crews the last time the Acheron had met up with Captain Lance and the Waverider. Even so, it seemed like things went wrong more often than not on days like today. “I'm just saying, I think it's a jinx to actually think something's going to happen today. Just because that newspaper says he's going to disappear doesn't mean it won't all work out somehow, after all Gilbert hasn't been able to detect any anomalies and you've been scanning for the Flash's disappearance all day.”  
     “That newspaper isn't going to be wrong. It changes every time the timeline changes.” Len insisted.  
     “Barry always figures a way out of these situations.” Lisa said gently, patting her brother on the shoulder.  
     “So then I guess we shouldn't be surprised that he's at the door?” Stargirl asked from the doorway she was leaning in to eavesdrop on them as she stared pointedly at one of the screens along the wall.  
     They both looked up to see Barry boarding the ship, and Len dashed out of the room before either of the girls could speak again.  
***  
     “Happy Birthday Len.” Barry said softly as he stepped into the compartment he and Len shared on the ship. He was still in the Flash suit but the hood was down and he was carrying a baby.  
     Len was startled for a moment before he realized what he was seeing. “Impulse?”  
     “Yeah.” Barry grinned. “He told me his name, actually. Back then, it's Bart.”  
     “I guess Eobard really is trying to duplicate you. Bartholomew Allen, what, Jr.? The Second?”  
     “I think they're the same thing, but Cisco will figure it out when he does all the paperwork.”  
     “This explains the headline. What did you do, go to the future again?” Len asked as he took a closer look at the child in his husband's arms.  
     “No, older me brought him back. Apparently Eobard's disappearance today was someone coming to get him because older me stole Impulse from wherever Eobard was keeping him.” Barry explained.  
     “Then what about your disappearance? Wasn't there a lot of trouble in the past because there was no Flash at this point?”  
     “Well it's going to be a lot of work looking after Bart and getting a new place, I guess I just won't have time to be a full time hero for a while...” Barry seemed to think this was the only logical explanation, but Len was still worried. The rest of Team Flash wouldn't have been so worried when Barry had talked to their future versions just a few years ago if it was just a matter of paternity leave. There was no way Len was leaving Barry alone even for a second until they figured out what this disappearance prophecy was all about.  
     “There's going to be a lot to sort out before we can give him even the semblance of a normal childhood.” Len sighed.  
     “You really don't mind? It's going to be a lot of work keeping up with Bart. He's already a speedster.”  
     “I guess you'll be doing most of the wrangling then, but I'm not going to be your ordinary housewife.” Of course he didn't mind, they'd already known for years that Bart was a part of their family.  
     “I bet we can get Iris and Malcolm to babysit if you want to do a superhero team up or something.” Barry said with a mischievous grin.  
     Len sighed at his husband's antics. “We're going to be getting a real place aren't we?”  
     “Probably a bad idea to raise a kid on a timeship crewed by superheroes.” Barry giggled.  
***  
***  
June 18, 2025  
     “Is this going to be an annual thing Barry? Or do I need to be prepared for every holiday?” Len asked as he stepped into the living room of their new house.  
     Barry turned to look over the back of the couch. “Um... I think that depends on Eobard's plans.” In Barry's arms was a baby in a green blanket. Obviously not Bart, since he was in his little bouncing chair next to the couch.  
     “That man needs to get his hands off your DNA.” Len growled, but he leaned over the couch to get a closer look at the baby he assumed was Inertia.  
     “Happy Father's Day.” Barry parodied his words from 54 weeks earlier.  
     Len gave him an exasperated glance but didn't hide his smile. “I want a card next year.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stargirl is alive here because I decided that the Legends went back and saved all the heroes they'd met throughout time a minute before they died and recruited them as Legends/Time Masters, and now there are multiple timeships again. Acheron and Gilbert were Eve Baxter's timeship, it's on arrow.wikia if you want to look stuff up.  
> And if anybody had trouble following it then here: Savitar was made into his own autonomous person seperate from Barry by Eobard back in chapter 1 on Doomworld, when they used the spear he was killed and erased for chapter 2, so in chapter three Impulse and Inertia accidentally just did the same to regular Earth-1 time remnant Savitar, who was basically a blank slate with Barry's underlying personality/outlook/morals all of that without any of the memories or experiences. So since they couldn't have 2 Barry Allens at the same time they made him the fake identity of Malcolm Allen which I took from New Earth comics where Malcolm Thawne (Cobalt Blue) was Barry's twin brother who was switched at birth so he should have been an Allen, and Iris married Malcolm so her name is still Iris West-Allen!


End file.
